(Psychedelic Rock) [LP][24/96] Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers - 1969, FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Marty Balin – vocals, guitar
Grace Slick – vocals, piano, organ, recorder
Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals
Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, rhythm Guitar, vocals
Jack Casady – bass, fuzz bass, rhythm guitar
Spencer Dryden – drums, percussion

Jerry Garcia – musical and spiritual adviser
Rick Jarrard – producer
David Hassinger – engineer
Recorded in RCA Victor's Music Center of the World, Hollywood California
Marty Balin – album design
Herb Green – album photography

This was the sixth album recorded by the group and the first to be wholly recorded in San Francisco, at Wally Heider's then state-of-the-art 16-track studio. Guests included Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar, veteran session pianist Nicky Hopkins, future Airplane drummer Joey Covington on percussion, David Crosby, and Stephen Stills. It was one of the earliest 16-track recordings. The back cover of the album shows a picture of the MM-1000 professional 16-track tape recorder built by Ampex Corporation which was used to record the album.

The album was marked with strong anti-war and pro-anarchism songs. The theme of nature, communities and ecology was also explored with the songs "The Farm" and "Eskimo Blue Day". The title track was actually inspired by a "Volunteers of America" garbage truck that awoke singer Marty Balin one morning. The album provoked even more controversy with lyrics such as "Up against the wall, motherfucker" (from the song "We Can Be Together") which appeared on the opening track and "shit" which is said several times on "Eskimo Blue Day". Musically, the album is characterized by lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen's razor-sharp guitar work (the dueling solos on "Hey Fredrick", plus "Good Shepherd" and "Wooden Ships") and the distinctive piano playing of Nicky Hopkins. It also featured that band dabbling in a country rock sound, particularly in"The Farm" and "Song For All Seasons".

Despite its controversies, the album was a commercial success becoming the bands forth top twenty hit record and went gold within two months of its release.

This was to be both Jefferson Airplane's founder Marty Balin and drummer Spencer Dryden's last album with the group, (although they did both appear on the "Mexico" single released in 1970 and its B-side "Have You Seen the Saucers?") signifying the end of the best-remembered "classic" lineup. It was to be the last all-new LP for two years; Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen would now devote more of their energy to their embryonic blues group "Hot Tuna", while Paul Kantner and Grace Slick celebrated the birth of their daughter "China" in 1971.

Even though the album was released in late 1969, the cover photo dates back to 1967, and features the band wearing disguises, and was taken during the filming of a promotional film made for their single "Martha."

A specially re-mixed Quadraphonic (4 channel) version of the album was also released in 1973. The Quad version was available on LP Record, and Reel to reel, and 8-track cartridge tape. The Quad mixes are noticeably different than the usual (2 channel) stereo mixes (actually, "Hey Fredrick" has a completely different lead vocal, "Volunteers" is a totally different recording, and "The Farm"'s backing vocals by the Ace of Cups is brought up to front). A few tracks from the Quad version were included on the 3 CD box set Jefferson Airplane Loves You, however on the box set the 4 channel recordings have been reduced to 2 channels.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 370 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

RCM Hannl 'limited'
Music Hall MMF 5.1 Turntable
Goldring 1042GX reference Cartridge
Belari VP-129 Tube Phono PreAmp with Sylvania 12AX7WA
Tascam US-144 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface
Interconnections by "Goldkabel"
Wavelab 5 recording software

Vacuum cleaning > TT > Belari > Laptop > Wavelab 5.01 (24/96) > manual click removal >
analyze (no clipping, no DC Bias offset) > split into individual Tracks > FLAC encoded (Vers. 1.21)